Jurassic World: Rewritten
by callousfinch
Summary: This isn't a high quality fic. I just started writing it 'cuz i wanted to. I'm not trying to make it excellent. i'm not going to go and re-edit it a hundred times. I'm just going to write what comes to mind and publish it, there, the end. Anyway, hope you find some enjoyment in it. God bless! :)
1. Introduction

The procompsagnathus bounded through the jungle in a panic. Over roots and fallen branches it jumped, swerved and dodged, chirping madly in alarm as it did. Behind it, the thundering footsteps of the most dangerous creature to have ever walked the planet quickly followed...

Hamada and his team drew to a halt. Hamada saw a little green procompsagnathus dart away into the bushes. He quickly turned his attention to the behemoth to the right of him. A female triceratops. Sub adult. 'Bianca,' they'd been calling her. The great beast was browsing but quickly reacted to the humans' presence by shifting her great head towards them, dark, beady eyes staring.

Hamada pointed. They raised their guns.

The triceratops suddenly became agitated. She opened her beak, dropping the ferns she'd been grazing on, and turned to face these strange creatures, honking angrily.

The humans fired.

Several darts pricked into the animal's skin. One of them, hit the hard, pebbled skin and fell off. The trike did not notice. She threw back her head and bellowed, and then broke into a run, head low, horns pointed right at them.

"Scatter!" Hamada barked. He and his team sprinted for cover. Hamada jumped and threw his arms up, clamping his fingers around a tree branch. Straining, he hoisted himself up. He looked down and saw most of his team had reached safety as well. One or two of them were still on the ground. Luckily, at that moment, the injection did its trick. The trike reeled, as if suddenly fatigued, and dropped her massive head. Then she toppled over onto her side. Her great stomach moved up and down in great breaths.

Hamada let out a sigh of relief and dropped down from the tree. He walked over to the trike and plaintively stroked her. Then he raised his arm to his mouth and said, "Hoskins, we have her. Send them in."

A few minutes later the chopper was there to transport the animal away. Hamada watched them load her into the crate, then watched as the chopper lifted her into the sky and took her away over the mountains. Turning, he said, "Come on, men. There's more to get."

Back at headquarters, Hoskins observed the containment process on the giant plasma screen. He was a paunchy man, firm, took everything with grave seriousness. Especially this.

He raised his arm to his mouth and said into the little device he had strapped around his wrist, "Hamada. Watch out, you have three lifeforms zoning in on your location."

Hamada raised his arm, signaling for his men to stop. The jungle around them had fallen silent, still. Nothing stirred, not even the birds. Hamada made a quick gesture with his hand. His team arranged themselves in into a defensive position. Hamada dropped his tranquilizer, reached into his belt and pulled out a submachine gun.

The seconds ticked by tensely. Hamada scanned the treeline, alert for the slightest hint of movement.

The attack came suddenly from all sides. Three horse-sized dinosaurs with orange-and-black tiger stripes jumped out of the bushes and charged the humans, moving so fast they appeared as orange blurs. Hamada trained his machine gun on the closest animal and fired. The gun bucked in his hands. A terrifying scream ripped through the air, and the target Hamada had been aiming for suddenly dropped to the ground, blood oozing out of many holes in its pebbled skin. Hamada turned, and saw the other two creatures were also dead. "Well done, team," he said.

Myers, a dark-haired woman, looked frazzled. "That was way too close," she gasped.

"Aye," Hamada said. "But that's not the worst of it. Wait till we get to the raptors."

"Give me a shot of the trike pen." Hoskins was in the control room. Lowery, one of the techies, typed some buttons and an image flashed up on the screen. It showed the helicopter carefully lowering the trike into her new home.

"Zoom in," Hoskins ordered. Lowery typed more buttons, and the screen enhanced. Hoskins watched tensely as the crate touched solid ground. Then the cupping detached, and the helicopter flew away.

"She'll be awake in a couple hours," Lowery said.

Hoskins nodded. "Now I have to see to the Pachy's. Get me a feed."

Hamada and his team moved silently and swiftly through the jungle.

"Grady," Hamada said, calling the young, ginger-haired member. Owen Grady ran up. "Yes, sir?"

"Run on ahead and see what you can see," Hamada instructed him.

"But Craig's the best sprinter," Owen said.

Hamada wasn't amused.

"Sorry," Owen said. "Just kidding."

He ran on ahead, charging up a small hill. By the end of it was he was panting, breathless, but the view was well worth it. He had a scenic shot of the whole landscape. Unable to resist, he pulled out his phone and started taking pictures.

"Grady!" Hamada called from bellow. "Now's not the time!"

"Sorry, sir!" Owen called down. He shoved his phone back into his pocket. "I can see the whole valley! Looks like there's some stegos down there!" he reported.

He took a step forward, and the ground came loose under his foot. He tried to catch himself, but his fingers slipped. He pitched forward and landed hard on his right hand, sending an explosion of pain up his arm. He tumbled loosely head over heel, unable to stop his descent.

Then he was falling through darkness. He landed heavily on his right shoulder, sending more pain through his body. Grunting, moaning, he rolled onto his back. He could see the blue sky through tangled roots. He was underground! He got to his feet; "Guys, I'm down here! Help!" he called, hoping his team had seen the accident.

A sound to his right. He wheeled toward it, pulling his gun out. His heart began to pound; what was it? A raptor? Oh, please don't let it be a raptor...

It was a raptor. But not an adult one; a little baby. It was tiny, less than a foot tall. It pounced forward on shaky legs, bobbing its head like a chicken. It squealed at Owen. Owen smiled, and lowered his gun. Cute.

Then he had a thought. If the baby was here, mom couldn't be far behind. It's too dark to see. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He swiped up and tapped the flashlight icon. Light filled the cavernous space. He shined the light around, and settled on a lump in the far corner. The lump was an adult raptor, but it wasn't moving. Three little baby raptors hoped around and on the adult, chirping shrilly. The adult did not move. Owen noticed that the creature's flank was scarlet red.

"Awe," he said. He felt bad for the infants.

"Grady?" Hamada! Owen ran back to the hole. "There you are!" he exclaimed. "What took so long?"

"You're well hidden," Hamada said. "What've you found? What's that chirping?"

"Little baby raptors," Owen said. "Three of them. Looks like mom's dead."

"Hmm," Hamada said. "I'd better report this to Hoskins."

"Uh, could you get me outta here?" Owen asked.

"We need a rope," Austin, one of the troopers, said.

"I've got one," Craig said.

"Hold on a minute." Hamada came back. "Hoskins says he wants the babies."

"Oh great," Owen said.

"Think you can get them?" Hamada asked.

Owen glanced at the babies. "They're pretty determined to stay with mom," he said.

"Determined or not, we have orders," Hamada said.

Owen sighed and went over to the babies. All three hissed at him simultaneously.

"Alright then," he said, "if that's the way it's gonna be, you leave me no choice." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a packet of beef jerky. He opened the packet and pulled a piece of jerky out. He held it out to the babies.

"When was the last time you ate?" he asked.

One of the baby's hobbled toward him. It sniffed the piece of jerky, inspecting it, before snapping it up. Owen smiled. "I got more," he said, and pulled out the rest of his jerky, and fed it to the babies. He laughed.

"What are you doing down there?" Myers called.

"Making friends," Owen replied.

"What?"

"Grady, come off it!" Hamada said. "We have lots more dinosaurs to track."

"How am I supposed to catch them?" Owen asked.

"I'm not sure," the brutish man replied. "Can you maybe just grab them?"

"Not without losing a finger. Or three."

At that moment there was a long snarling coming from somewhere in the darkness. Owen scrambled to his feet. "There's something in here!" he called. "Throw the rope down!"

The rope landed next to him. Owen grabbed it and started climbing up. He gasped with relief when he reached the top. "I half expected something to take my legs," he said.

"There must be more raptors down there," Hamada said. "I'll report this to Hoskins."


	2. New Attraction

**Eighteen months later**

Standing on the catwalk, Owen Grady looked down, at the five velociraptors, feasting on a cow. The snapping of bones and the tearing of flesh was in the air. It was exhilarating, and frightening, to watch these beasts hunt, and eat.

"Lovely," said a voice. Owen turned his head to see paunchy Vic Hoskins coming down the catwalk, toward him, gazing down at he raptors.

Uh oh, Owen thought.

Hoskins came and stood beside Owen, put his hands on the railing. "What you need, Victor?" Owen asked.

Hoskins didn't reply immediately. "That one with the missing eye," he said.

"Yes?"

"What's her name?"

"His name is One Eye." Owen said.

"Oh, fitting."

"Something tells me you didn't come down here to make conversation."

"No," Hoskins said. "Owen, look. We've tried. I've done everything I can: we moved them out here because we thought, maybe, if they couldn't see humans, they wouldn't try to break out. We were wrong. There've been four breakouts since then. And two deaths."

"I know," Owen said. "I take full responsibility for Bill and Mack-"

"But you don't," Hoskins said. "If you did, these animals wouldn't still be here."

"These animals have as much of a right to live as the gentlest herbivore."

"If only that were true. They're vicious. Mindless in a sense. They kill when they don't need to. They're..."

"They're just animals."

Hoskins sighed again. "Look Owen. You may look at these animals and see five little puppy dogs. No one else sees them that way."

Owen straightened up to his full height, took a step toward Hoskins. "I don't see them as puppy dogs," he said severely. "I see them as you do. They're monsters. But they're more than that. They're complicated creatures."

"Complicated is never a good thing," Hoskins said. "Owen, I've done my best. You know I have. I honestly want to be able to let you keep them. But I can't. I have to put the visitors' lives first. And _yours_."

Owen sighed. "It ain't that easy, man."

"No, but it is."

"No, you listen. These animals trust me. I've been there for them since they were babies. I can't turn my back on them now. I can't..." he sighed. "I look at them, and I see a complex brain inside those creatures. They're not your run-of-the-mill stego or trike. They're far more intelligent than that. They're... almost... human."

Hoskins looked at him like he'd lost his mind.

Owen sighed and turned away. "If you were me, you'd understand," he said.

"Oh I understand," Hoskins said. "No, really," he added when he heard Owen's scoff. "When I was roundabouts your age... I rescued this wolf pup. It was like, two months old or something, could barely walk. I brought him home, took care of him. My wife, one day she came at me with a steak knife. And that wolfy, he... well, he took a chunk out of her arm."

Owen glanced at the man with surprise.

"What I mean is," Hoskins put a hand on Owen's shoulder. "I understand the bond you guys have. I get it. And I tried really hard... did everything I could. I didn't want to be the one to sever that bond, because I once had a bond with an animal, too. But I have to put safety first."

"So that's it then," Owen said, his voice hard.

Hoskins patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I really am."

"When?" Owen asked.

"Not sure exactly. I'd say about a week."

 _One week._ "No, no, Hoskins-"

"Owen, I'm sorry!" Hoskins almost shouted. "I've done all I can."

He started to walk away. "I'm going to talk to Masrani about this!" Owen called after him.

"Please do," Hoskins called back. "Maybe you guys can work out an agreement."

Owen returned his gaze to the raptors. One of them, the one without an eye - One Eye - stopped eating for a moment, and raised his scaly head and looked at Owen. Owen smiled. One Eye licked his lips, then resumed eating.

* * *

Owen Grady drove back to the central plaza. It was difficult finding a place to park among all the other staff vehicles, but in the end he managed it.

He decided to take the crowded main street instead of an alternative route. There were people everywhere, tourists flocking to the various attractions, snapping photos, eating. Smiles all around, giddy, disbelieving smiles. Owen couldn't help but smile himself. He remembered his reaction to first seeing a dinosaur, he liked to bask in other people's reactions, too.

He started up the marble steps to the visitor center. He pushed open the massive doors and entered the giant, expensive, and thankfully air conditioned building.

He passed many more awestruck visitors on his way to the lab. The lab was crisp, clean. Big windows through which eager patrons could observe the geneticists at work, creating new dinosaurs.

Owen flashed his ID Card at a guard and then pushed open a door. Inside, two men were fawning over a pastry dish or something. They were, head geneticist Henry Wu, and Jurassic World's founder and CEO, Simon Masrani. Both men looked up as Owen entered, but Wu quickly returned his attention to whatever he was working on.

"Owen!" Masrani said. "What can I do for you?"

Owen crossed his arms. "About the raptors?"

Masrani offered a small smile. "I'm assuming Hoskins has already spoken to you?"

"Yes," Owen said.

Masrani put a hand on Owen's shoulder. "They're too dangerous, Owen."

"Everything in this park has the potential to be dangerous," Owen reminded him. "The only reason the raptors are causing problems is because they have the intelligence to do so."

"I'm sorry, Owen, but my mind is made up," Masrani said.

"The training is coming along well though!" Owen said.

"Training?" Masrani squinted. "Owen, we tried that..."

"I'm trying a new trick," Owen said. "Clicker training. It's working wonders, you should see!"

From behind, Wu let out a snarky laugh.

Owen glared at the man. "Something to say, Henry?"

Wu turned around, admonished him with a haughty look. "The raptors singlehandedly crippled the previous park," he said.

"No," Owen said. "Your man, Nedry, is responsible for that."

"Nedry did not kill anyone, unlike the raptors."

"Because Nedry gave them the opportunity to do so!"

Wu shook his head and went back to work.

Masrani looked at Owen and sighed. "We've done all we can..."

Owen folded his arms. "Give me a month."

"I can't-"

"No, no, hear me out. If you give me one month, I promise by the end of that month the raptors will be trained."

"You can't make that promise."

"Yes, I can."

"Owen," Masrani's tone was firm now. "I've made up my mind. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Owen stared after the man angrily as he left. "It's for the best, Owen," Henry Wu said. "You don't want to end up as raptor food, do you?"

Owen didn't respond, just left the room.

* * *

Simon Masrani made his way to the helipad. In the distance, a blue helicopter was flying toward him. The chopper settled down on the helipad, and a red-haired woman, dressed all in white, stepped out and started making her way toward him.

"Claire." Masrani smiled. "How was your trip?"

Claire paused before responding. "It was relaxing," she said.

"Ah, I'm glad," Masrani said.

They went inside and started down a long hallway to the elevator. Claire asked, "So, have the raptors been dealt with? You said they'd be gone by the time I got back."

"Ah, yes," Masrani said, rubbing his hands together. "Well, we thought, why not give it another week?"

Claire regarded him with a flat look. "You know they can't be trained," she told him. "What are you wasting your time for?"

"It's Grady," Masrani admitted.

The pieces seemed to fit together for Claire. "Ah," she said. "I see. Well, he's had his time. We have to put the safety of the visitors first. Always safety first."

"I agree," Masrani said. "The raptors will be dealt with my tomorrow, you have my word."

Claire reached out her hand, and Masrani shook it. "Thank you, Simon," she said, and then got into the elevator. The doors closed. Masrani found himself lost in thought.

The elevator took her back down. When she reached the stop, she got out and walked down to the lab. A big, burly man stormed past her without so much as glancing at her. Claire continued down the hallway. She opened a door and went in. Inside, Wu was at work, doing something.

"Has he been giving you trouble?"

Henry Wu jumped at her voice; apparently he'd been so engrossed in his work he hadn't heard her enter.

"No, not really," he said. "He's just attached to those animals."

Claire snorted. "Frivolous."

Wu shrugged. "You should see him with them. It's kind of incredible."

"I've seen enough of Owen Grady," she replied.

Wu smiled, as if that amused him. "Yes, well. You're right of course, the raptors have to go. Visitor safety must always come first. But they're going to be missed. They're one of our most popular attractions. And that is why we are going to need something to take their place."

Claire raised an eyebrow, intrigued by what he was implying. "You have a new dinosaur?"

"I do indeed," Henry Wu said.

"What is it?"

Wu smiled at her. "It's one of a kind."

Claire was impatient. "Spit it out, Wu."

"It's a new species," Wu said, walking over to another table. He peered in through a microscope. "And by that I mean, I created it."

Claire quirked an eyebrow. "What are you saying?"

"I've made a new species of dinosaur," Henry Wu said. "A hybrid."

Claire stared at him. "What? Is that ethical?"

"It is now," Wu said. He looked back at her, smiled. "Would you like to see it?"

Anger flared up inside Claire. "You did this without my authorization?" she demanded.

"Masrani authorized it," the doctor explained.

"He shouldn't have done that. I should have been informed."

"Well you weren't, so get over it," Wu said starkly. "Now come on; do you want to see him or not?"

"I _would_ like to see... _him_." Claire said.

"Excellent." Henry Wu walked to the back of the room, and Claire followed. They left through a back door, and walked down to the parking alley. They got in a van and drove off. Wu took a little service road rather than the main road, down into the jungle.

"Where is it?" Claire asked.

"We had to move him out here for safety reasons," Wu said.

"Is this the little surprise Masrani was telling me about?"

"Yes, I believe so."

They drove for about ten minutes. It was sweltering hot outside but luckily the van was air-conditioned. Eventually Wu stopped the car. Claire looked out the window and saw a huge gray wall. "How big is this thing?" she asked.

"Oh, he is quite big," Wu said.

A knot of anxiety crept up in Claire's stomach.

Wu opened his door and got out, and Claire followed. The place was swarming with guards. But these guards were wearing different uniforms to the ones Claire was used to seeing. "Who are they?" she asked the shorter man as she walked along beside him.

Wu replied, "They're a special unit we devised specifically for my new creation."

Claire stopped. "Wu, is this thing more dangerous than the raptors?" she demanded.

Wu stopped as well and looked back at her. "No, it is not as dangerous as the raptors," he said.

Claire resumed walking. "Because I don't like the idea of replacing one problem with another..."

"Don't be alarmed," Wu said. "We're taking all the necessary precautions."

Wu led her to a staircase which they quickly walked up. Wu opened a door and they entered into some kind of viewing deck. There was a large window that they could look out of. There were a few guards in the room, and Claire recognized one of them as Hamada. She nodded to the man.

"Oh yes," Wu said. "We put Hamada in charge here, of this special division. We loves it; don't you, Hamada?"

Hamada remained impassive.

"Well," Wu said, walking over to the big window. He put his hands on his hips. Claire came up beside him, dwarfing him with her great height.

"He's in there somewhere," Wu said.

"So what exactly is this thing a hybrid of?" Claire wanted to know.

"Buncha different things," Wu responded. "I've kind of lost track..."

Claire glanced at him, that knot of fear growing a little bigger.

"Well, come on then!" Wu said, turning to Hamada. "Draw him out!"

Hamada nodded gravely and wordlessly pushed a button on the control panel. A crane began to lower in the pen, holding a piece of flesh. Flies buzzed around the flesh as it lowered.

Claire saw movement. Something lunged forward out of the trees, racing at incredible speed it jumped up, grabbing the flesh and ripping it down before the crane had even fully reached the ground. It jumped fifteen feet into the air! Claire watched with fascinated horror as the predator ripped the flesh loose and swiftly ran with it back into the jungle.

Claire's heart was pounding in her chest. In the brief moments the creature was in the open, she distinguished some of its nightmarish features. She recalled spikes along the creature's back, long arms with sickle claws, strong legs, a long neck that supported a cavernous mouth with horns above each eye.

"What is it?"

Wu seemed to take joy in her reaction. "He is the Diablos Rex."


	3. Slaughter

When Owen made it back to the raptor pen, one of the handlers, Tuck, had some bad news for him.

"Delta's escaped!" the man reported.

"When? How?"

"It was... it was kind of incredible, actually. The crane came down, and Delta jumped and grabbed onto it. And then she started climbing! And she jumped onto the catwalk and made off into the forest." He hesitated before adding, "It's like she knew what's coming."

"Don't remind me," Owen told him. "Have you sounded the alarm?"

"Yes, sir. Everyone's gone to the bunker."

"Good. Stay there. I'll stay here and wait for ACU to get here."

Tuck sprinted off. His words echoed in Owen's ears: _It's like she knew what's coming._

A few moments later the ACU van rolled up. The door opened and a bunch of troopers flooded out. Owen recognized his old friend Craig. "This way!" one of the troopers said, and they sprinted off into the jungle. Owen watched them go, his heart breaking. Part of him wanted Delta to get away- actually, all of him wanted that outcome. But he knew how selfish and irresponsible that was. Sure, he _was_ selfish: he loved those raptors. Could you blame him?

He turned around and walked up the stairs. And lo and behold, there was Victor Hoskins. The man was standing and looking down at the four remaining raptors. He looked up as Owen approached.

"They had to pull one final stunt, didn't they?" Hoskins' tone wasn't condescending or mean. In fact, the man sounded amused.

"Guess she figured, she had nothing to lose," Owen said.

That shut Hoskins up.

In the distance there came the sound of gunfire from the forest. Owen snapped his head toward the sound and his heart plummeted.

Hoskins squeezed his shoulder reassuringly before walking off.

Owen returned his attention back to his raptors. He found he was lost for words. It was just as well- the raptors paid him no attention.

Suddenly the words began tumbling out. "I've always been there for you. But I can't anymore. I have to... let you go," he said, tears filling his eyes.

A sob escaped his throat.

"I love you."

He looked up at the sound of an engine. The ACU van was returning. Hoskins greeted them. "Is Delta dead?" he asked Craig.

Craig nodded.

Owen closed his eyes. She was one of the first, Delta. So strong willed and defiant...

He opened his eyes again at the sound of footsteps. He turned and saw the troopers and Hoskins coming toward him. His heart began to pound and a million ideas sprang into his mind. Stop them; get in the way; free the raptors. No, that'd be irresponsible. Besides, whatever he did would only be delaying the inevitable.

Then he had an idea. He ran to the control panel. There was a large red button. He glanced around to make sure no-one was watching, then pressed the button. He heard a grating sound, then turned and saw the gate opening. That gate led into the jungle. There was a sectioned off area in the jungle where the raptors played and hunted. He looked back, down at his raptors, who were busily eating. "Come on," he muttered. "Go. Get out of here. It's your last chance."

The raptors did not budge.

Owen walked back to Hoskins and the troopers. "Wait a minute," he said. "Maybe we can-"

"Owen," Hoskins said. "Enough. It's over. Let it go."

Owen wanted to punch the man. Hoskins was just doing his job- but at the same time he was tearing a part of Owen out.

Owen got out of their way, though it cost him every ounce of himself. He caught Craig's eye, and the man offered a sad smile.

"Let's do it," Hoskins said.

The troopers raised their guns. Owen turned away. This is it, he thought. Every day for the last two years he'd spent with the raptors.

He jumped at the harsh sound of gunfire. A reptilian screech erupted from below. Owen squeezed his eyes shut. It was a horrible feeling. It was like part of him was dying with his raptors.

"One down," a trooper called.

Owen grabbed the railing, nauseous.

A moment passed. Then: "Two down."

"Where're they going?" Myers asked.

Owen opened his eyes and turned to look. He quickly shut his eyes again when he saw the bodies of Charlie and Echo lying on the ground. But where were One Eye and Blue?

"There they are!" Hoskins said. "They're heading out the gate!"

Owen turned to see what he was talking about. He saw One Eye and Blue disappearing into the jungle.

"Who forgot to close the gate?" Hoskins demanded. Then he seemed to think of something. He grabbed Owen. "I know you love those animals but you don't seem to realize what you're doing!" he said.

Overcome, Owen punched him in the face.

Hoskins staggered back, and Austin stepped in the way, prepared to defend Hoskins. Hoskins fixed Owen with a strange look. "Never-mind," he said. "Let's get this horrible business over with. Come on, all of you- get in there."

The troopers ran past Owen, on their way to hunt down and kill his two remaining raptors. _Children_ , Owen thought. He looked up at Hoskins. A bruise was appearing in the man's eye. He and Owen looked at each other for several long moments. Then Hoskins turned around and walked off.

Owen forced himself to look at the bodies of Charlie and Echo. He climbed over the railing and dropped to the bottom. It was a long drop. Owen bent his knees when he landed to absorb the impact.

Then he walked over to Charlie's bullet riddled body. Memories popped into his head of Charlie. This time, Owen did not attempt to contain himself: he broke into tears. He knelt down and picked up Charlie's head, cradled it like a mother would her child. He stroked his cheek, then put his head down. Wiping tears, he walked over to Echo. He put his hand on her side. The skin was still warm. Those beautiful markings. She was a pretty girl. What a sad waste.

He'd never been this close to them before. At least, not since they grew up. So, in a way, their deaths allowed him to fulfill that wish.

He closed his eyes and knelt next to Echo for about five minutes.

Then with a shock he realized that Echo was breathing, her stomach rising and falling with weak gasps.

 _She's alive. She's alive!_ Sadness gripped his heart. _She's in pain_. For a moment he considered putting her out of her misery- it broke his heart to see her in pain. But he knew that he'd never be able to do it.

I have to save her life, he thought. But how? Who will help me?

An idea occurred to him. He winced. No, not him...

But who else was there who'd be willing to help? Sighing, Owen pulled out his phone and punched in a number. The phone rang for a few minutes, then a male voice drawled, "Well, hi there- never thought I'd hear from you again."

"Listen Brad," Owen said. He had to force the next words out: "I need your help."

Brad burst out laughing. "What on earth with?"

"ACU shot my raptors but one of them survived. She's dying, but I think she can be saved."

"Let it go, Owen."

"I've had people tell me that over and over again and I'm sick of it!" Owen shouted. "I won't let it go, alright? I'll find a way to save her with or without you. But I'd really like to have your help." Ouch, saying that last part actually physically hurt.

Brad seemed to be delighted in this. "Very well, you got it. What do you need?"

"Thank you," Owen said, truly relieved. "We'll need medical supplies. And a van- bring a van. We can pretend like we're just disposing of her body."

"Alright, I'll be there in... oh... six minutes?"

"Make it fast," Owen pleaded. "She doesn't have long."


	4. Nothing Is Natural

Claire Dearing sat in Simon Masrani's office, waiting for him to return.

He had a large window behind his desk that gave him an excellent view of the island. Claire could see hundreds of people down there.

All of them, oblivious to the Diablos Rex.

The door opened and Simon Masrani came in. "Claire," he said. He walked to his desk and sat down.

"What can I do for you?"

Claire took a breath. She'd thought long and hard about how to handle this.

"I just saw Henry's latest creation."

"Oh excellent," Masrani said. "And what did you think? You loved it, right?"

"That's... not quite what I was thinking," Claire said.

"Then what were you thinking?"

"I'm concerned."

Masrani looked surprised. "How come?"

"We know virtually nothing about that thing," she said. "At least with the normal dinosaurs, we had the fossil record and Wu's experiences to help us gage how they would behave. But with this thing, this _mutant_ , we have none of that. I'm just worried that we're not prepared to deal with it."

Masrani nodded as he listened. He rapped his fingers on his desk. "You could say that all the animals in the park are mutants," he said.

Claire dipped her head. "Fair enough. But this is something else- this is a hybrid."

"I know all this," Masrani said. "Claire, if you're worried it will break out, don't be. Hoskins has assured me that escape is utterly impossible."

"That's what I'm saying- you can't know that for sure," Claire said. "Because we don't know how this animal behaves, we can't hope to predict what it will do."

"You think it will sprout wings and fly out?"

"Of course not." She paused. "And it's not just that... it's also a question of morality."

Masrani raised his eyebrows at that. Claire pressed on: "I don't think it's morally right to create a new species of dinosaur, and I'm sure many will agree with me."

Masrani laughed. "Morally right?" he said. "Don't be naïve, Claire. What you're saying- we've been doing it from the beginning. None of the creatures you see out there-" he made a broad sweep with his hand- "are legitimate dinosaurs. They're fabrications. Fakes. Claire, we're not trying to recreate nature here- that was never the goal. No, we're simply mimicking nature."

For some reason that disturbed Claire. "Please just think about this... I'm worried."

Masrani smiled. "Well, it's part of the job, isn't it?"

"I suppose so."

The man stood and gestured for her to do the same. "Let's go have lunch. You can tell me more about your concerns."

"I have a lot of work-"

"Nonsense. You just got back. Come, come, am I such bad company?" He laughed.

* * *

Hoskins was at the raptor paddock and talking into his radio. "Did you say you lost them?" he said.

Craig replied, "I don't get it: they vanished from radar."

"Use the sensors," Hoskins said.

"Wait," Craig said. He paused. "Wait! Over there! ON THE RIGHT! Open fire!"

Screams and gunfire ensued. Hoskins waited tensely for the ruckus to end. "Craig, are you there? Craig!"

No response.

Hoskins swore before pulling out his phone and dialing up control.

"So that's what I thought of that..." Lowery was saying. He was trying to engage in conversation with Vivian. Sadly, it wasn't going anywhere.

Suddenly his phone rang. "Excuse me," he said, and answered it. "Hello?"

"Lowery." It was Hoskins and he sounded distressed.

"What's the problem?" Lowery asked.

"We got a code nine," Hoskins said. "I'm not fooling around. Code nine."

Lowery checked his screens. "The raptors are still in the pen, though."

"ACU's compromised. No guarantee the raptors will stay there. I need you to sound the alarm. Now," Hoskins said.

Lowery swallowed. "Okay. You got it."

Hoskins finished the call and hung open. He turned at the sound of an approaching engine: was that his backup?

No, it was the vet's truck. The vehicle pulled up and stopped. Bradley Daniels jumped out and waved hi to Hoskins.

"What are you doing here?" Hoskins said.

"Picking up those bodies," Brad said.

"Bodies?"

"Yeah. You killed those raptors, didn't you?"

"Now isn't the best time. We have an emergency-"

"Don't sweat it, pal," Brad said. "I'll be there and then done in five minutes. You have my word."

"Okay," Hoskins said.

"Oh, by the way- some guy was asking for you. Tuck, he said his name was."

"Where is he?"

Brad pointed. Hoskins ran off. Brad looked up as Owen ran over to him. "Thank you," he said. "It means a lot-"

"Don't sweat it," Brad said. "Echo didn't deserve none a' this. None of them did."

They went into the paddock. Passing Charlie's mutilated corpse. Owen crouched beside Echo's bleeding body. He checked to make sure she was still alive. "Okay, you have the harness?"

Brad handed it to him. Just in case she woke up, Owen didn't want to lose an arm.

They got Echo in the truck. Brad jumped behind the wheel and Owen got in next to him.

"Hopefully Hoskins doesn't chase us," Brad said.

Owen glanced behind him. "He's got his hands full. Come on, go!"

Brad started up the truck and they sped off.

The clinic wasn't far, luckily. They drove in and unloaded Echo, placing her body on a medical table.

"First things first," Brad said. "We have to stop the bleeding. Give me a hand Owen! Don't just stand there!"

Owen took some bandages and pressed them down on the multiple coin-sized holes in Echo's abdomen.

"She's lucky. All her organs are intact. Except maybe this lung," Brad said.

"Come on, Echo," Owen murmured. "Stay with us."

Owen's heart leapt when he heard an engine. He looked out the door. A truck was coming down the road toward them. "Quick!" he said. "I'll shut the door." He jumped out and closed the doors. Just in time too- whoever was driving the truck had decided to stop and roll down the window. Owen looked in. The driver was Henry Wu. "Grady!" Wu exclaimed. "What are you doing way out here? And why are your hands covered in blood?"

"Brad asked me to help him with a Pachy."

"What's wrong with it?"

"She fell on a branch, impaled her leg. Poor thing."

"Ah, I see," Wu said. "Well, good work."

Then he drove off. Owen let out a sigh of relief before going back to the truck. When he opened the door, Brad said, "We need to get her inside, now."


	5. The Diablos Rex Strikes

Hoskins stood at the raptor paddock and looked toward the road. "Where are you guys?" he said into his phone.

"Nearly there sir," Hamada's voice replied.

For the next two minutes, Hoskins paced until Hamada's van pulled up in front of him. The door slid open and Hoskins quickly jumped in. Someone handed him a rifle. "Lowery says the raptors are headed off into the Restricted Zone," he reported.

Hamada nodded. "I know. Don't you worry sir, we'll find them. By the way, I sent some men to find Craig and his team."

"And?" Hoskins said.

"They are all dead," Hamada said.

Hoskins closed his eyes for a moment, grieved. He'd worked with Craig and Myers for years. Such a sad waste.

He opened his eyes again, "Go," he said, and the van jumped under him as it took off down the road. "I just want to get this over with."

In the control room, Lowery got a call from Hoskins.

"Lowery, cancel the emergency," the man told him.

"But Blue and One Eye are still out!" Lowery protested.

"Don't worry. We'll have them in just a few minutes. Besides, they're moving away from the park."

Lowery hesitated. "Alright," he said at last.

Claire Dearing stood at the monorail station amid the crowds of people, searching for one face in particular.

There she was- a pretty woman with red hair, like Claire, emerging from the crowded monorail. The woman smiled and walked over to Claire, followed by her husband and little boy.

"Claire," the red-haired woman said. The two of them embraced. "It's so great to see you, Karen," Claire said. She also embraced Karen's husband, Scott.

"Hi Matias!" she said to the little boy. He was a blonde curly-haired boy of two. Matias buried his face in his mom's leg, embarrassed.

"Did Mom tell you what you're gonna see today?" Claire asked him.

"Dinosaurs," Matias replied, his voice muffled.

"He's super excited," Karen told her. "He's been going on and on about it for weeks..."

Scott bent down and picked up his son. He pointed off into the distance- "Matias, do you see that? That's the aviary! They have flying dinosaurs in there."

"Flying dinosaurs?" Matias repeated, awed.

"They're called Pterosaurs, babe," Karen said to Scott.

"Oh, right," Scott said.

Claire smiled. "I'd like to introduce my assistant Zara." Zara was a gorgeous black-haired woman with a tight British accent. "Nice to meet you all," Zara said, smiling.

Claire noticed Scott was goggling at her.

"Zara is going to be your tour guide," Claire continued.

Karen's smile faded. "You're not coming with us, Claire?" she asked.

Claire pressed her lips together and made a sad smile. "I wish I could... but I'm absolutely swamped in work. But don't worry- I'll meet up with you for supper."

Karen nodded reluctantly. "Alright, Claire. See you then."

"Come right this way folks," Zara said cheerfully, and led Karen, Scott and Matias off into the crowd.

Claire's phone rang. She retreated to a quieter spot before answering it. "Lowery, what is it?"

"Just letting you know I called off the emergency."

"Yes, I noticed. Tell me again what exactly happened."

"Two of the raptors got out... they killed some ACU guys. They're headed off into the Restricted Zone but Hoskins is on the trail."

"Good," Claire said. "I'm sure he'll catch them right away."

* * *

"I think we've stopped the bleeding," Brad reported to Owen.

Owen sighed with relief.

"Don't get your hopes up yet, she's got a long way to go." Brad reached for his tweezers, then looked up at Owen. "You squeamish?" he said.

Owen shook his head.

"Well, I'm about to try and retrieve a bullet from within her. So if you feel sick, close your eyes."

Turned away, Owen said, "Brad, I-I can't thank you enough."

Brad snorted. "Well, I did what anyone would have done."

"I'll try to save your job. I'll tell Masrani... I don't know... something."

"I appreciate that."

Owen heard some pretty gross sounds as Brad tried to fish out the bullets.

"We have to consider what we're going to do with her," the vet said.

Owen had been thinking about that. "Maybe we can let her roam in the Restricted Zone."

"She'll be alone. They killed all the other raptors, right?"

"Most likely. But it's her only chance at survival."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Indeed you are!"

Owen snapped his head around at the voice. His heart sank. Henry Wu stood in the doorway. "I knew something funny was going on," the man said. "So you managed to save one of your raptors. How is she?"

"She's alive," Owen said.

"Poor thing."

"Are you going to tell Masrani?" Owen said.

Wu sighed. "Yes, of course, I must. I don't want to lose my job."

Behind them, Brad let out a laugh. "Yeah right!" he said. "Wu, you know you can do just about anything and they won't fire you."

"I suppose so," Wu said modestly. Then he smiled. "That reminds me... my newest creation." He turned to Owen. "Mr. Grady, I don't believe you've seen it yet."

"Seen what?" Owen said.

"My newest creation of course," Wu said.

"What is it?"

"I call him the Diablos Rex?"

Owen's eyes widened. "Never heard of that dinosaur before."

"I'm quite certain you have not. Would you like to see it?"

Owen glanced back at Brad. "Will you keep this a secret if I do?"

Wu struggled with that. "We'll see," he said.

Well, that was better than a no. "Okay," Owen said, "I'll come. Let's go see the... Diablos Rex."

"Wonderful!" Wu exclaimed. He led Owen back outside and to his truck. He jumped in- Owen had never seen him so excited before.

They drove for about ten minutes. Owen hadn't been down this way in a long time. His curiosity grew with each passing moment. "Is this thing dangerous?" he said.

"Everything is dangerous to some degree."

Owen frowned.

The truck pulled up in front of a massive wall. Owen got out and goggled at it. "How big is this thing?"

"Oh, not very big at all," Wu said. "But he can jump quite high..."

Wu led him to an observation deck. There were uniformed guards there- but their uniforms were green, different than the normal blue ones worn by park security. "What's the meaning of this?" he asked.

"Come," Wu said, beckoning him to the window.

Owen walked over to him and looked into the paddock. "I don't see anything."

"Let's give him something to eat," Wu said. The man off to the right pressed a button. A crane began to lower into the paddock.

Wu grabbed Owen's arm. "He's always hungry," he said.

But nothing happened. No sign of any animal. "Hmm, maybe it's in the basement," Owen said.

Wu frowned. He tapped the glass. "Where are you?"

"Must be playing cards in the basement," Owen said.

Wu glanced nervously at the man running the controls. "Run a scan. Find him."

There was a red flash and an alarming beep- No signature.

Wu gulped.

"Well doc, what's the problem?" Owen asked.

"He's not in there," Wu said.

"What?"

"I don't get it," the man at the controls said. "We monitor him constantly. There's no way..." He tapped more buttons.

"Could it have climbed out?" Owen asked.

"Impossible," Wu said. "The walls are over thirty feet high."

"Dug under?"

"No. The walls go down deep- at least ten feet. I don't understand it. How could he have gotten out?"

"Should I sound the alarm, sir?" the man at the controls asked.

Wu thought about it for a moment. "Wait," He said. "Let me call Hoskins. Maybe he can come back and..." he trailed off as he began dialing the number. He turned his back to the paddock. The minute he did that, Owen knew something was wrong. Call it instinct- intutition- whatever. Without even seeing the animal he knew that this was the moment it had been waiting for. He began to call out- began to tell Wu- when out of the corner of his eye he saw movement, something rushing with indiscernible speed, jumping, leaping into the air-

Then there was the violent crashing of glass, and a terrifying four-fingered forelimb grabbed Wu around the waist, and the man screamed as the arm pulled him back into the paddock. Owen heard the crunching and snapping of bones as the beast fed.

He ran to the door before he could be caught as well.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading if anyone is. God bless.**


	6. Family Weekend

"So where would you like to go first?" Zara asked as she led Karen, Scott and Matias through the crowd of people.

Karen and Scott exchanged a glance. "T-rex," they said together.

Zara laughed, "T-rex is it, then. Follow me."

She led them to an archway. On the archway was the words T-REX KINGDOM. It was undoubtedly the most popular exhibit as the place was absolutely flooded. There was a long line to get in.

"Looks like we'll be here a while," Scott said.

"Not at all," Zara chimed. She reached into her bag and pulled out some wristbands. "Claire got these VIP wristbands for you."

Karen and Scott put their wristbands on. "Well buddy," Scott said to Matias, bouncing the boy on his hip, "you wanna see T-rex?"

"Can I have ice cream?" the boy said.

The observation dome was very unique- in that it was a giant log with a big window that visitors could look out of.

"T-rex feeding begins in five minutes," an announcer said.

Carrying Matias, Scott stood in front of the window with other visitors. "T-rex?" Matias asked.

"He's coming," Scott said. "Hun, you're taking pictures, right?"

Karen pulled out her phone, ready to snap away.

There was a metallic grind, and a platform rose out of the ground. A goat was tethered to the platform. "Here we go," said Scott. He was giddy. "You watching, Matias? The T-rex is gonna eat that goat!"

A noise like a thunderclap shook the ground. Scott's heartbeat quickened. He gazed around. Where was it?

The noise repeated itself three times. Scott looked to the right- and there it was. It was huge! His jaw dropped. It was as big as a building! "Matias, he said, "there it is! Look!"

The animal was dark brown in colour with black stripes running along its back. Its head was easily five feet long, and full of serrated teeth. Scott couldn't believe he was looking a real live T-rex!

What happened next shocked him. The animal leapt forward with incredible speed. It traversed the distance from the treeline to the goat in just a few bounds. The helpless goat wailed in fear as the T-rex's jaws closed around it...

The crowd erupted in cheering. Scott stared with mingled awe and horror. His heart dropped when the T-rex, still chomping, looked up- looked at them.

He felt someone pulling Matias out of his arms. He turned and saw Karen holding their son, trying to sooth him. The boy was wailing.

"Holy man," Scott said. "That was... that was..."

Karen said, "It's okay, Mat. It's okay, shh... See, I told you it would be too scary for him," she looked at Scott.

"He'll be fine," Scott assured. He felt lightheaded after that experience.

"I'll be he's traumatized."

"He'll thank me one day."

Zara held out her arm. "Shall we continue with the tour?" she asked. "Perhaps some friendlier dinosaurs next?"

Zara led them to the petting zoo. Scott said, "A dinosaur petting zoo? Awesome!"

Karen was cautious. "Are you sure they won't bite?" she asked Zara. The dark-haired woman nodded. "They're all very friendly with children."

"Are you okay, Matias?" Karen asked their son. His cheeks were still stained with tears. "That was a scary dinosaur, wasn't it? Do you want to pet a baby dinosaur now?"

Matias shook his head crossly.

Karen carried him closer to the pen. "Look!" she said, pointing. "Look at those kids playing with the dinosaurs!"

Showing the caretaker their wristbands, Karen, Scott, Matias and Zara entered the pen. There were baby triceratops- Karen recognized them by their stubby little horns- along with some smaller dinosaurs with long necks. "What are those?" she asked.

"Gallimimus," one of the caretakers said. She stooped down, and picked one of them up. She held it in her arms like a puppy, stroking its back. Scott chuckled; he was having fun.

"Would you like to pet the little dinosaur?" the caretaker asked Matias. Matias shook his head.

"Look Mat," Karen said- she reached out and stroked the baby. "See? He's nice. He's just a little baby."

Scott reached his hand out and stroked it. "Wow," he breathed. "This is cool. This is really cool. This is a thousand times better than Disney Land."

Tentatively, Matias reached out and poked the baby before quickly withdrawing his hand. He laughed. "Isn't that cool, Mat?" Karen said. Her son reached out again and stroked the Gallimimus' pebbled skin.

"Nice," he said.

"Karen," Scott said, grabbing Karen's arm. He pointed. "They're _riding_ the dinosaurs."

A baby triceratops waddled past them. It had a saddle on its back. Seated on the saddle was a young girl. "Man, I missed out," Scott said.

"Would your son like to ride one?" the caretaker asked.

"Oh, I don't know..." Karen said.

"Of course he does," Scott said. "Matias, you see those kids? They're riding dinosaurs. You want to ride a dinosaur, right?"

Matias grabbed his mother, a look of real terror on his face. "No!"

Zara smiled. "Perhaps we should go get some lunch?" she suggested.

"Yes, great idea," Karen said. "I'm starved." They began to walk away.

"But I'm still playing!" Scott protested.

Karen laughed. "Alright then, you stay here and play."

Scott stroked the baby Gallimimus one more time before following his family out of the pen.

The giant wall separating the Restricted Zone from the rest of the island loomed in front of Hamada's van. A giant metal gate opened with a grind. Hamada pressed his foot on the gas pedal, and they passed through.

Immediately, they were sufficed by towering plants and trees. This part of the island was unpaved. Nature was allowed to run its course here. And it had. Hamada guessed this was what all of Isla Nublar would look like if humans had never arrived.

"How in the world did they get over that wall?" Hoskins said. He was referring to One Eye and Blue.

Hamada shrugged. "Raptors are intelligent."

Hoskins grunted.

The van roared through the jungle. Hoskins readied his gun. This had been a bad day. An entire ACU squad was dead, Owen was mad at him, and now this containment breach. He just wanted to kill those raptors and be done with it.

"Very close now," Hamada reported. He was looking at the screen on the dashboard. He turned around to look at his team. "Everyone ready?"

"Here," Hoskins said.

The van rolled to a stop. The door slid open and Hoskins jumped out. He looked up at the towering trees and interesting fauna. Here, the trees blocked all sunlight.

Hamada made a gesture with his hand, and his team fell into position. Hoskins had taken the preliminary training course- at least he understood what these basic hand gestures meant.

They team moved through the jungle stealthily and quietly. Before long, Hoskins was sweating down to his feet. He wasn't in the best shape, and hadn't had to physical exert himself this much since-

A rustling in the bushes ahead drew his attention. He pointed his gun at the bushes, staring down the barrel. Silence. Nothing moved, nothing stirred. Quiet.

Then Hamada gestured again, and they resumed marching.

"They must have heard us," Hamada said. "They're moving farther away."

Hoskins tried not to panic. Hamada was capable, and his team were some of the best they had. Hoskins was confident in their abilities, as well as his own. But Craig had been confident too. Yet somehow, he ended up dead. Which lead Hoskins to think that there was more to these raptors than first met the eye.

"There!" screamed a voice. A burst of gunfire quickly followed. Hoskins spun around, gun at the ready. Even as he did, he realized their mistake. He didn't see the raptor, just caught a glimpse of its tail vanishing into the brush. Jason was lying on his back, screaming his head off. His screams were terrifying. Hoskins glimpsed blood- a lot of it.

"What happened?" Hamada said.

"It just came out of nowhere and cut him, cut him down the middle," someone shouted above Jason's screams. Hamada walked over to Jason. Hoskins could tell by the look on his face that it wasn't good. Then Hamada raised his gun and fired. Jason's screams abruptly ceased. Hamada turned back to them. "We are leaving," he said.

"Yeah," Hoskins said. "I think we should."

They double-timed it back to the van and drove out of there as fast as possible. Hoskins punched his seat. "That wasn't Blue or One Eye."

"It was a wild raptor," Cooper said.

"But we killed all the wild ones," Hoskins protested.

"We thought we did."

"Blue and One Eye led us into a trap," Hamada said.

Hoskins' blood turned cold.

"There could be dozens of wild raptors out there."

"We have a real problem," Hoskins said. "I'm going to tell Lowery to sound the alarm. Pull over." They did. As Hoskins was about to dial, he suddenly got a call from-

"Owen," he said. He answered it. "Grady, what-"

"The Diablos Rex is out," Owen said.

His words didn't register immediately. "What?"

"The Diablos Rex is out!" Owen said again. He sounded out of breath, like he'd been running. "And it ate Henry Wu."

* * *

Owen Grady was hiding under Henry Wu's truck. He could see the Diablos Rex's feet as the hybrid sniffed around, searching for more food. Owen wasn't sure exactly how many people it had eaten so far- but he was determined to not become one of them.

After fleeing the complex, Owen had dived under the truck and quickly slathered himself in mud. He hoped desperately that it would hide his scent. And it seemed to. But he wasn't out of the woods yet.

Whatever that thing was- it wasn't normal. It was a killing machine. It was smart and it was deadly. That had been more than proven. And it was all thanks to Henry Wu...

Well, he'd paid the price for that mistake.

He heard the steady, rasping breaths of the hybrid as it sniffed the ground. He could see its legs. The creature had some interesting coloration. But Owen didn't care about that right now.

After sniffing for a few more minutes, the beast grunted and moved off somewhere that Owen couldn't see. Owen waited a long, long time. After about ten minutes had passed, he pulled out his phone to call Hoskins. After delivering the news, he hung up and dialed Brad.

The phone rang and rang; but there was no answer. Swearing, Owen hung up. He crawled out from under the vehicle. He was all muddy from crawling around under there, but he didn't care.

To his right, he heard the sharp snap of a branch. And then he realized, he too had a made a serious mistake. He jumped into the truck, pulled the door closed- right as the Diablos smashed its head into the vehicle. Owen flung around as the truck tumbled onto its side. He heard the terrifying, animalistic scream of the dinosaur. Groaning, he looked up as the door was ripped away- and the Diablos Rex peered inside at him.

A strange feeling came over him then. He knew he was about to die but he couldn't have been more relaxed about it. He watched, in a detached way, as the Diablos reached inside the truck and snagged him with those cruel fingers and began to lift him up. The jaws opening, spit falling into his face...

Then an explosion. The Diablos screamed in agony and rage. Its fingers opened and Owen fell back into the truck. Through the shattered windshield, he could see the Diablos lying on its side, its flesh sizzling and smoking. Then, it pushed itself to its feet. Owen was astonished. How much can it take? The creature let out a moan, then stumbled off into the jungle.

Owen heard footsteps. Someone was coming. "Are you alright?" said a voice. Owen looked up. A woman was peering in the truck at him. "Are you okay?" she said.

Owen nodded. "I'm alive," he said.

The woman offered him her hand. "Come on, we have to move."

He grabbed her hand and climbed out of the battered truck.

"Anything broken?" she asked. Owen flexed his arms and legs.

"No, I'm good."

She pointed at his shirt. He lifted up his shirt and saw a red mark, beginning at his pelvis and moving up to his armpit.

"We need to get that bandaged up," the woman said. "By the way, my name's Jackie."

She led him back to the complex. They climbed the stairs and entered the observation deck. Jackie grabbed a first-aid-kit and bandaged up Owen's wound.

"So what do you think of Dr. Wu's latest creation?" she said dryly.

Owen let out a dry laugh.


	7. Things Go Wrong

When she heard what had happened with the Diablos, Claire's first worry was of Karen. Hurriedly, she grabbed her phone and typed Karen's name into the search bar. No results. What! _Surely I have my own sister as a contact?_

Unless she deleted it at some point to clear up some space... _But I wouldn't do that- would I?_

Oh well. She could always just add her again. But wait... what was her number?

She swore in frustration. I know! I'll get Lowery to locate them. She quickly called him. It was a good thirty seconds before he replied.

"Claire?" he said. "Listen, I'm a little busy right now."

"I know. But my sister and her family are out there in the park and I need you to... to find them."

"You want me to find your sister?" Lowery repeated. He sounded distracted.

"Yes, I order you to! I have to know if they're OK."

"Claire I got a million things to do! And there's a million people out there. It'd be like finding a needle in a haystack."

Claire hung up in frustration. He was right. It would be nearly impossible to find her sister in that crowd. But he could have at least tried...

At that moment her phone began to ring. She answered it. It was Masrani. "Claire," he said. "Come down to the control room at once."

"I'll be right there," Claire said.

"Stay off the service roads. And be quick. It's coming."

"You got it."

She ended the call and ran to the door.

Karen tried to coax some food into Matias. But her young son was too distracted. She listened idly to the conversation between Scott and Zara.

Suddenly there was a noise and everyone started panicking. Zara was on her feet at once. "That's the emergency siren," she said. "Come on, we have to go."

Karen picked Matias up and followed Zara out of the restaurant. "Is it a big deal that we didn't pay?" she asked.

"We'll do it later," Zara said.

Outside, people were running, panicked. "Stay calm," Zara said. "Don't run, it only causes problems."

There were guards streaming out of the visitor center, coming to restore order. People were running into the large building, scared for their lives.

The loudspeaker blared: "Attention: due to a containment anomaly, all guests must seek shelter immediately."

Carrying Matias, Karen followed Zara and Scott through the crowd of people. They started up the steps, going nice and slow like Zara said. But someone wasn't listening to the instruction, and in his flight he bumped into Karen's arm. Karen lost her footing and fell backwards. There was a dizzying moment of dark surprise. Karen hugged Matias close to her to protect him from the impact. She took the brunt of the impact on her back. And then all was dark.

Scott grabbed his wife. "Karen!"

She didn't respond or even move. Zara grabbed Matias. He was crying from the shock of it. "Is he hurt?" Scott demanded.

"I think he's fine," Zara said. She began shouting for help.

Scott put his arms around his wife. He gently lifted her head. He felt blood. "Oh, geez, oh no..."

Two guards ran over. One of the asked "Where is she hurt?"

"Her head," Scott said.

Gently, they picked her up and carried her inside.

Lightheaded, Scott heard wailing. Matias didn't like being held by Zara. Scott took him, hugged him. "It's alright," he said, tears filling his eyes, "mom's gonna be alright."

Zara gently grabbed Scott's arm. "Let's get inside," she said calmly.

He followed her up the marble steps and into the visitor center.

* * *

Claire ran into the control room. Hoskins was there, along with Masrani. Masrani turned as she came in, and looked relieved. "Good, you're OK."

Claire went to them. They were hovering around Lowery's desk. Hoskins said, "That thing's coming right for us." He was watching the thermal readout screen. There was a big mass of red dots- those were the people. But off to the right, there was a solitary red dot. Progressively moving towards them.

"Undoubtedly," Masrani said. "It can detect heat signatures. Just like a snake. If it's hungry, it's going to go to the place with the most heat."

Hoskins swore. "What is this thing? What have you made, Simon?" he said.

"Don't look at me," Masrani said. "This is Henry Wu's creation."

"That you authorized."

"Do we have confirmation of Wu's death?" Claire asked.

Simon Masrani nodded.

"Its poetic, in a way," Lowery mumbled from his desk. Claire scowled at him and he quickly resumed typing. "Ninety three percent of all visitors are now inside," he declared. "The rest are coming in now..."

"That means we have to starting worrying about our people," Masrani said. "Has anyone heard from Owen recently?"

"I could call him," Claire offered. She pulled out her phone.

"You have his number?" Lowery said, surprised. "I thought you guys hated each other."

"Shut up and get to work."

Lowery muttered something incoherent.

The phone rang and rang in Claire's hands. "He must be busy," she said at last. "If he's still alive."

On the screen, they watched the red blip moving closer and closer to them. Claire found she was breaking into a nervous sweating.

"Little frightening, isn't it?" Hoskins said. "You really outdid yourself this time."

"Shouldn't you be out there trying to contain it?" Masrani refuted.

Hoskins glanced at his watch. "Yeah, my boys will be here in a minute. But we're not going to contain it, sir."

Masrani pointed a finger at the man, "I forbid you to eliminate it."

Hoskins laughed, harshly. "You're kidding me right? It killed Wu, and probably others. It's virtually unstoppable. And it's coming this way. What, you want us to go at it with cattle prods and stun guns?"

"We've invested twenty six million dollars in that asset-"

"Oh, yikes that's a lot- but it's not even half of what you're going to have to pay to cover all the life insurance and damages if that thing is allowed to live..."

"I think he's right," Claire said. "It's far too dangerous. I warned you about this, remember?"

Masrani began to pace. "I just don't understand! Hoskins, you yourself assured me the paddock was inescapable!"

"Yes, it is," Hoskins said. "And I've been thinking about that. My only explanation is that- oh, there they are." Claire turned as a bunch of ACU troopers stormed in. Hoskins walked over to them.

"What?" Masrani said. "What's your explanation?"

Hoskins looked back at him. "Sabotage."

Masrani goggled at him. "And who would do that? Why?"

"I'll talk later." Hoskins strode toward the elevator. "We'll have the park back under control within an hour," he said.

When he was gone, Claire sighed, fatigued. "Two emergencies in one day..."

Masrani sighed as well. "We'll recover," he said. "After all, this is our first incident in... what... eight weeks?"

Suddenly Claire's phone began ringing. She looked at the screen to see who was calling. It was Zara. "Hello, Zara?"

"Claire," Zara said, her voice was tight with emotion. "I'm sorry. Karen..."

Claire listened with dread and horror as Zara described what had happened to Karen. She felt sick to her stomach and had to lean on Vivian's desk for a moment to stable herself.

"Which room are you in?" Claire asked, her voice hollow.

"28," Zara said.

Claire hung up the phone and ran out of the control room.

* * *

Owen had a splitting headache. He rested his head against the window as Jackie drove them down the service road. "We have to stop at the clinic," he said.

"Why? You hurt that bad?" Jackie asked.

"No, it's... my friend is hurt," Owen said.

"Ah. Okay, we'll stop. Are we taking your friend with us?"

"No. She's probably better off where she is."

Owen noticed some indents in the mud. "Stop," he said. Jackie braked. Owen rolled down his window and looked out.

Three-toed footprints in the mud. Each print was about three feet long.

"It must be the Diablos," he said. He looked up, down the road. "It's headed right for the park."

They pulled up in front of the clinic. The building had been attacked- that was for certain. The windows were smashed and parts of the wall looked like someone had driven a truck into them.

Owen jumped out of the truck, loitered on unsteady legs. "Wait!" Jackie called him back. "It could still be here!"

Owen ignored her and went to the door. He opened it. Sunlight streamed in. At first he wondered where it could be coming from; the clinic had few windows. Then, he saw it: the cavernous hole in the wall where something large and powerful and stormed through.

The clinic was a mess. Owen took a step in. His shoe kidded on some spilt water. But then he looked, and realized it wasn't water; it was blood.

The table that Echo had been lying on was smashed up and lying in a heap on the ground. There was no sign of Echo, or Brad. But there was a lot of blood on the floor. And Owen doubted it was the Diablos's blood.

He heard footsteps as Jackie came in after him. "Holy smokes." She whistled. "Any sign of your friend?"

Owen pointed at the blood.

Jackie fell silent.

"What's that?" Jackie said. She pointed across the room. It took Owen a minute to see it. But then he saw it. A piece of shredded clothing. Owen walked over to it and picked it up. Yes, it was a shred of the shirt that Brad had been wearing.

"What is it?" Jackie asked.

"A piece of Brad's shirt."

"Who's Brad?"

"Brad Daniels, the veterinarian."

"Oh."

Owen stuffed the fabric into his pants pocket.

He cast a glance around the room. "I don't see any remains besides this," he said.

"There's a chance," said Jackie, "that your friend made it."

"Yeah," Owen said hopefully. "Maybe she did."

"We'll keep an eye out for her," Jackie said.

They left the clinic. Owen quickly ran around the building. He was looking at the dirt. He was looking for raptor tracks.

Relief washed over him when at last, there they were. Those familiar footprints. Spaced quite far apart- Owen did some measurements- and concluded that she had been running. Echo had survived. And she'd taken off into the jungle. There was a chance- yes, there was a chance she was alive. Reassured, he smiled and went back to Jackie.

But poor Brad...

He got in the truck. Jackie said, "What were you doing out there?"

"Looking for footprints," he said.

"What'd you find?"

"Nothing."

Jackie patted his shoulder in what he thought was supposed to be a comforting way.

They continued on down the road toward the park.


	8. Counter Strike

Claire watched from the balcony a sea of people coming inside. She was on the lookout for one familiar redhead and her family and assistant. Where were they? There were about a hundred people down there, and many of them had red hair and resembled Karen in more ways than one. None of them appeared to be her though...

She kept looking. Minutes passed. She still didn't see them. She began to be worried. She went downstairs and walked up to a guard. "Excuse me," she said.

"Yes, Mrs. Dearing, how can I help you?" the guard asked.

"I was wondering if you happened to see a red-haired woman who looks a lot like me... she's my sister. She's with a man who has blonde hair and green eyes and her two-year-old son. And my assistant, Zara. Have you seen them?"

The guard seemed to realize something, and his expression grew grave. "Yes, I have." His tone was serious. Claire's gut clenched up.

"Your sister was hurt," the guard said. "She's at the clinic."

The floor seemed to drop out beneath Claire's feet. She felt like she was falling. "Thank you," she whispered. She began to run in the direction of the clinic, almost tripping in the process.

Claire pushed her way through the door that led to the clinic. The smiling receptionist looked up from her desk and said, "How can I help you, Mrs. Dearing?"

Claire walked over to the desk. "Hi yes, um, I'm Claire..." She was distracted. "Umm, my sister, Karen, Karen Mitchell. I was told she was here..."

The receptionist looked taken aback. "Why yes... She's your sister?"

Claire nodded.

"She's in surgery," the receptionist said.

Claire's heart sank. "What happened?" She stammered.

The receptionist spoke calmly and slowly. "She got knocked over and hit her head on the ground. The doctors are stitching her up now."

The floor swayed under Claire's feet. Karen, why did it have to be Karen of all people? "Will she..." she said.

"I'm not sure exactly, Mrs. Dearing. We'll just have to wait." The receptionist told her.

Claire nodded. "Okay." She felt useless. And sick to her stomach.

"Feel free to have a seat. Do you need anything else?" the receptionist offered.

Claire shook her head and sat on the bench. "No, no, I'll just wait here."

Her phone rang. She glanced at it. Masrani. She let it ring.

Hoskins looked out his window at the foliage. That beast was out there, he thought. Out there somewhere. Man, what a day this turned out to be. He turned to Hamada. "How's it looking?" he asked.

Hamada pressed a button on the touch-screen on the dashboard. "Another mile to go," he reported.

Hoskins thought the scariest thing was hunting raptors in the forest. He was wrong. This was much more terrifying. Raptors were normal animals; the Diablos wasn't. The Diablos was new, a new creation, wholly unique, wholly unpredictable... he cursed himself for authorizing it in the first place.

"Stay close to us and you'll be fine," Hamada told him.

"Wait! Who's that?"

Hoskins looked up. Ahead, a truck was rolling towards them. That looked like Owen in the passenger's seat! Hamada hit the brakes. The other vehicle also stopped. Hoskins rolled down his window and was face-to-face with Owen. Owen looked bad. He was bleeding from multiple cuts and his body was badly bruised. Despite this, he managed to muster a disdainful look for Hoskins.

"What are you guys doing out here?" Hamada asked them.

Owen didn't answer, but the woman in the driver's seat did. Hoskins thought he recognized her, but he wasn't sure. "We're heading back of course," she said. "Where are you guys going?"

"We're gonna put an end to that thing," Hoskins said.

"The Diablos?" the woman said.

"Yes."

"How many of you are there?" the woman asked.

Hamada made a quick check. "Eight."

"Well, there were fifteen of us elite troopers back there when the Diablos broke out. Now it's just me. That thing is unkillable! I shot it with a bazooka and it just got right back up. What do you have in terms of weapons?"

"We have fully automatic rifles."

"That ain't gonna cut it," the woman warned. "Trust me, I've seen it for myself. Bullets are useless against that thing. You'd do well to go back and grab some heavy artillery. Better yet, use the chopper."

Everyone was so hung up on the conversation that they didn't notice the dot on the screen getting closer and closer to them...

Suddenly there came a scream unlike anything Hoskins had ever heard. It sent chills down his spine and made him physically uncomfortable. He snapped his head around as something huge and terrifying rammed into the left side of the vehicle. Hoskins' head flung into the window and there was an explosion of pain. Everyone was screaming. Windows shattered. The Jeep skidded across the ground but it didn't topple; it was well made. Hoskins blinked blood out of his eyes. "All out!" Hamada shouted. Hoskins grabbed the door handle. He was going to go out there and shoot that thing into oblivion. He twisted the handle and kicked open the door and jumped out. But as he did, there came another terrifying scream. The Diablos ducked and rammed its head into the truck again. This time, it flung the Jeep right onto its side. Right onto Hoskins. Hoskins tried to jump clear- but it was too late. He felt himself being crushed to the ground under the weight of the heavy vehicle. He felt a tremendous pain. And then he felt nothing. Because he was dead.

* * *

When Jackie had seen that thing emerge from the bushes to attack the ACU Jeep, she hadn't given it another thought, she'd pressed her foot to the ground and sped away as fast as the vehicle would allow.

"What are you doing?!" she heard Owen shout at her. "They need help!"

Jackie didn't stop or acknowledge his voice. She was terrified. That thing had almost killed her before. She didn't want to face it again. She couldn't.

"Go back!" Owen shouted, and he attempted to grab the wheel but Jackie drove her fist into his jaw. He screamed in pain. "Stay off me!" Jackie shouted.

Owen drove the butt of his rifle into her head. "Sorry!" She heard him say before it all went dark.

What had seemed like a good idea at the time turned out to be a fatal mistake. Jackie slumped against the seat, unconscious, and Owen realized he had to take control of the Jeep or he'd be dead. He grabbed the wheel and tried to steer it back onto the road. But the tires were slipping into the ditch. There was no use. It skidded off abruptly into the bushes. There was a deafening crunch and Owen was thrown bodily through the windshield. Stars danced before his eyes for a moment, and then he too lost consciousness.

* * *

Lowery stared in horror at the screen. The Diablos was tearing the vehicle to shreds. Eating people. He saw a man in its fearsome claws, screaming and flailing his arms. He looked away as the monster shoved him into its jaws.

He heard Masrani swear, loudly. "Get the chopper out there!" he screamed. "Bomb the entire island if you have to, just kill this thing!"

"We have to divert its attention from those people," Vivian said, her voice barely a whisper.

Lowery had an idea. He rapidly typed buttons on his keyboard. Then, on the screen, as the Diablos was about to eat another person, its head suddenly snapped up. Over the radio, they could hear the tinny, indistinct roaring of a dinosaur. The roaring continued. The Diablos stood motionless for another moment, before walking off toward where the sound was coming from. It was drawn to it like a moth to the light. Lowery clapped his hands in triumph. "Yeah!" On the screen, he watched as a few ACU members climbed out of the Jeep and ran for it. He counted four of them, and he was pretty sure one of them was Hamada. As for Hoskins, there was no sign of him.

"Well done Lowery," Masrani said. "Now let's get that chopper in the air."

"There's a problem," Lowery said. "There's no one to fly it. All the ACU guys are out there." He pointed at the screens.

Masrani pondered this. Then, without a word he strode out of the room. Lowery glanced at Vivian. "Where's he going?"

"Can you handle this for a moment?" she asked.

"Sure," Lowery said. "What are you-"

Vivian stood up and followed Masrani out of the room.

* * *

Vivian finally managed to locate Masrani on the helipad. There was another man with him. Vivian approached them.

"What are you doing?"

Without answering, Masrani reached into the helicopter and a few seconds later the propellers started rotating.

"You're not going to fly it, are you?" Vivian said.

Masrani turned to her, his expression grave. "Shouldn't I take responsibility?" he said.

"Yes..."

"Then I'm going to fly it." Masrani jumped into the helicopter. The other man loaded a big gun onto it.

"Stevie here is untrained," Masrani shouted from the cockpit, gesturing to the other man. "But he's ready to do what has to be done, just like me."

"Be careful!" Vivian shouted.

Masrani winked. He looked more alive than Vivian had seen in a while.

Vivian stepped back and watched Masrani tackling the controls. Slowly, the chopper began to lift off. It sailed away into the distance. Vivian watched it go, before going back inside.

When she got back to the control room, Claire was there. She was standing at Lowery's desk, talking into the radio. "Mr. Masrani, I don't agree with this. You have no experience."

"What do you know?" Masrani said. "I've been taking lessons for four weeks. Trust me, I know what-"

There was an insistent beeping on the other end.

"Now, what's that flashing mean?..." Masrani muttered.

Claire was tense. "Masrani, please come back. You obviously don't know what you're doing."

The beeping stopped. "Ah, there! See, I told you so."

"Masrani..."

"Sorry Claire, got to go! I'll call you when the beast is dead." He clicked off.


	9. Heroism

Owen opened his eyes. His vision was blurry. He blinked a few times to clear it.

He was lying outstretched on the hood of the battered jeep. Glass fragments lay all around him. He realized he'd been thrown through the windshield. He looked back, and saw Jackie, unconscious, in the driver's seat.

He groaned. Every inch of his body hurt like mad. It was unbearable.

Then he heard a sound. Heavy breathing. Instinctively, he froze.

There was something here...

He smelled an awful smell, like decaying flesh. The ground vibrated. With a snap of horror Owen realized the Diablos had found him.

 _It was leaning right over him_. He felt its hot breath on his neck. His terror was extreme. I can't believe it, I'm going to die!

The monster continued to sniff him. Then it let out a dissatisfied groan and wandered off.

Wait... what?

Owen titled his head ever so slightly to the side. He saw the Diablos through his incomplete vision, walking away down the road.

It just left him alone...

He couldn't even begin to understand why. He was easy pickings and that thing had never turned up a meal before. What gives?

Was it because he looked dead? Because he wasn't moving? Was it only interested in live things?

Owen didn't know, and right now he didn't care. In the distance, he heard the distant drone of a helicopter...

Masrani piloted the chopper with proficiency. "You're good at this!" Steve told him from the back. Masrani gave him a thumbs up.

His headset buzzed. Masrani clicked it. "Claire, is that you?"

"Yes," She said.

"Can you give me a hand? Where is this thing?" he said.

"It's in section 408. Heading to section 409." Claire said.

"Thank you love." He switched off. Adrenaline pulsed through his body. He felt elated.

"Thar she blows!" Steve hollered. Masrani looked. He could see the animal now. It was running through the trees, trampling them in its wake. Masrani chased it down.

It wasn't getting away this time!

Masrani angled the helicopter so that Steve could get a clear shot. Masrani heard the deafening blast of gunfire. "Too far!" Steve yelled. "Get closer if you can!"

Masrani obeyed. They chased the animal down again and Steve fired once more. Masrani thought he could hear the Diablos' terrifying scream. "I think I got him!" Steve yelled. After a moment, "Yeah, it's down! I can see it!"

Masrani looked, but he couldn't see the animal. "Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Steve said.

"Keep firing," Masrani told him. "We have to make sure its dead."

Steve probably emptied the entire clip. "Okay, I think that did it!" he shouted.

"Let's see." Masrani began to descend.

Suddenly his headset buzzed. "Stop!" Claire shrieked.

Masrani said, "What's wrong?"

"It's baiting you!" Claire said. "It can jump! It's going to-"

Masrani didn't hear the last part because suddenly, with a great muscular spasm the Diablos leapt up from the trees, jaws open, claws out. Masrani swore and jabbed the steering stick up, but it was too late. The chopper dropped about ten feet, and Masrani looked down, and with horror saw that the Diablos had grabbed on. They were falling...

"Shoot it!" Masrani yelled.

"I can't! I can't get the angle!" Steve cried.

Masrani jabbed the stick left and right in a last ditch effort to shake the creature loose. But it had an iron grip. Masrani looked down. It seemed to be grinning with cruel malice...

"Masrani!" Claire screamed in his ears.

Masrani unbuckled himself. He was going to jump. He was going to try to get away. It was his only hope. Maybe, maybe he could somehow escape from it. If he ran fast enough.

In the control room, Claire stared at the floor, shocked. The room was absolutely silent. Except for Vivian's muffled sobs.

The chopper had just gone down. It had just vanished.

Tentatively, Claire tried the radio again. "Masrani?"

There was a burst of static and then Masrani said "Help!" He was panting.

"Masrani?" Claire said.

"I'm-" More static. More panting.

"Masrani?"

The radio went quiet.

Claire collapsed into a chair. She closed her eyes.

For a while the only sound was Vivian's sobs.

Claire felt dead inside. She felt hopeless. But she couldn't afford to. She had to take charge here and save as many lives as possible.

She opened her eyes again and sat up, trying to look capable. "Lowery," she said.

"Uh huh," he said.

"Begin the evacuation." Claire swallowed. "And call for help."

"Call who?"

"I don't know. The military." Her voice was chipped like ice. Because she was trying to hold back the emotion.

"Okay," Lowery said, and began typing.

"Lowery and Vivian stay here," Claire continued. She turned to the room. "The rest of you get out of here."

Chairs scrapping and people running. Then it was deserted, save the three people who remained.

Claire sat down again. She looked at her phone. She called up Zara to ask how her family was doing. Zara assured her that Karen was going to live, which was a great relief to Claire. But there was a chance of brain damage.

Claire closed her eyes again. Brain damage. Why... why? It wasn't fair! She was such a sweet woman-

"Claire?" Zara said. Claire realized she'd gone quiet for about thirty seconds.

"Yes," Claire said. "Can you stay with them?" she asked.

"Of course," Zara said at once.

"Thank you," Claire said. "If we have any money left by the end of this, I'll give you a huge bonus."

Zara laughed. "Bye, Claire. See you in a bit."

She hung up. Claire then called Owen. It rang and rang for a long time. Then finally, a dreary voice said, "Claire?" He coughed.

"Hi Owen," Claire said. "How are you?"

"Not well." Owen coughed again. "I'm kind of half alive."

"Where are you? I'll send someone to pick you up."

"Thanks. We're on the service road. Heading towards you."

Claire nodded. "I'll send someone right away."

"Thanks Claire."

* * *

Hamada stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He looked at the three people with him. Spears, Lee, and Miller. This was all that made it. Hamada was too tired to feel grieved.

"We'll stop for a minute," he said. "But only a minute."

His troopers collapsed onto the ground. Hamada sat down. He checked his gun. It was just a pistol. Not much use in that against that thing. But it was better than nothing. He checked the clip. Three rounds. He pulled another clip out of his pocket and swapped them.

The jungle was alive with noises of all kinds. Hamada kept casting glances over his shoulder to make sure nothing was sneaking up on them. Fortunately, nothing came.

Hamada rubbed his eyes. He just wanted to go to sleep.

"How far is it to the park?" Spears asked.

"About a mile," Hamada said. "Give or take."

"Was it just me, or did you guys hear that chopper too?" Lee asked.

"I didn't hear it." Hamada said.

"I could have sworn I heard a chopper." Lee said.

"Maybe."

There was a pause, then Miller said, "When we get back we're calling the military. I don't care what Masrani or Claire say."

Hamada nodded, in agreement.

They sat for another minute, and then Hamada got back to his feet. His body screamed protest. "Come on," he said. "There's still a chance for us."

They resumed their tiresome trek through the rugged jungle.

* * *

"Okay," Zara said. She was on the phone with a man, Lewis. "We'll be waiting for you when you get here."

"Just make sure you're on the helipad," Lewis said.

"I will," Zara said. "When will you be here?"

"About fifteen minutes. After we clear out these crowds."

"Okay." Zara hung up. The arrangements were made. Lewis would come by in a helicopter and pick them up. Karen was way too unwell to go walking through the park, so this was the best choice.

It was just as well for Zara; she didn't like the thought of going out there. With that thing on the loose.

She walked back over to the Mitchells. "Someone's coming to pick us up," she said.

Scott nodded. He was holding Matias on his lap. The boy was fast asleep. The poor boy had been asking for hours when Mommy was gonna wake up. Zara looked at Karen. Yes, she would live, but there was a chance of brain damage. Zara found herself oddly saddened by this. She had no real connection with these people- they were complete strangers- but she somehow felt that they were her responsibility.

Doctor Mercer said, "When will the chopper be here?" Dr. Mercer had stayed behind in case something went wrong with Karen. He wasn't too happy about it though.

"Fifteen minutes," Zara told him.

Dr. Mercer nodded and turned away. "We're the only ones in the whole building," he said, shivering. "I don't like this."

"None of us do," Zara said.


	10. Regroup

Hamada wiped his brow. Man, it was hot. Not just hot, but humid too. His clothes were drenched in sweat. He looked back, at his companions, they weren't doing much better.

"It's not far now," he said, panting, "not far to the park."

He noticed something poking out of the bushes. A piece of metal. What was that doing here?

He picked it up and looked at it. Why, it looked like a propeller. What was that doing way out here?

He parted the bushes with his hand and looked out. Something that may have been a helicopter at one point lay in the clearing. It was so battered and bashed that you couldn't tell what it was. It looked like a Brachiosaur had stomped on it.

Hamada drew his gun and approached the craft. He noticed some long scratch marks in the hull. "The Diablos brought it down," he said, with a shake of his head.

His men began to sweat with fear. Hamada wasn't afraid, he was gripped with newfound determination to destroy the Diablos.

"I wonder who was flying it?" Miller wondered as the examined the craft. Hamada shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe-"

"I found something!" Lee shouted from behind. Hamada turned. Lee ran forward with something in his hands; he gave it to Hamada: it was a radio headset, like the kind pilots wore. This probably belonged to the pilot.

He put the headset on and tried the radio out. "Hello, is anyone there?"

There was no response. He tried it again; nothing.

"Must be broken," he said, and took it off. He noticed a strand of gray hair in the headset. He pinched it between his fingers and examined it. Someone with gray hair had been wearing this. Hmm... Masrani had gray hair, didn't he?

In the distance, he heard a sound that made his blood freeze. It was the bark of a velociraptor.

"Come on!" he said. "We have to move."

The troopers fled into the thicket of the jungle.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the control room, Claire held a cup of coffee between trembling hands. _Oh, stop shaking already_ , she thought with gritted teeth. _You're such a pansy. You haven't even been in danger. Just calm down..._

"How's the evacuation coming?" she asked aloud.

Lowery punched some buttons on his keyboard. "Well," he said. "Thirty percent are on board."

"Excellent," Claire nodded. "At the rate this is going, the park will be empty in an hour. Where's the Diablos?" she asked.

Vivian brought up the thermal detection screen. "That's odd," she said.

"What?"

She pointed, "The Diablos is going away."

Claire looked. Indeed, the little red dot that signified the Diablos was moving away from the park. This was both relieving, and confusing.

"Why is it doing that?" she asked.

Lowery just shrugged. "Maybe he's finally full," he said.

Claire didn't buy it; "That thing's never full," she said.

"Well then, maybe it's going after the other dinos."

"Maybe."

"Wait a minute, what's that?" Vivian asked, pointing at the screen.

At the top of the screen, a cluster of red dots were on the move. Moving down, toward the park.

"What are they?" Claire asked.

"Hang on a sec." Lowery changed the view to footage from a security camera. Amongst the greenery, they could see little indiscernible dark shapes slinking around.

Claire's heart dropped. "Are those raptors?"

"Yeah. At least six of them," Lowery said. "But I thought they were all dead."

"Hoskins and Hamada discovered some wilds ones in the Restricted Zone," Vivian reminded him.

"Oh, yeah."

With a _shhk_ , the elevator doors opened. Owen and a woman that Claire didn't recognize stepped out. Both of them looked beaten, exhausted, and covered in mud and blood.

"Owen!" Lowery cried.

"Water," Owen said. "Go any water?"

Claire ran to the back and filled up two cups for Owen and the woman. "What happened to you?" she asked, handing them the cups.

Owen sat down and emptied his cup. "Well," he said, "first, she saved my life-" he gestured to the woman- "and then I repaid her by knocking her out and crashing the Jeep."

The woman let out a weak laugh. "Well, I deserved it for leaving those guys to die. I'm sorry, by the way. I was terrified." she said.

"Understandable," Owen said.

"You guys look awful." Vivian came over with a first-aid-kit. "You should go to the clinic."

"We will," Owen said. "Once you tell me what the heck's going on here and what your plan is." He looked at Claire, expecting her to answer.

Claire faltered. "Well," she began, "we've issued the evacuation-"

"When?" the woman interrupted.

Claire faltered again. "About six minutes ago," she stammered.

The woman nodded. She had a cut on her forehead that was bleeding quite bad. Vivian began to clean it. "Where's the Diablos?"

"It's moving north..." Claire said.

"Toward the Restricted Zone?" Owen said, sitting up.

"Yes."

Owen stood, wincing with the pain, and hobbled to the front of the room. He looked at the big screen. "Is that it?" he asked, pointing to the solitary red dot.

"Yes," Lowery said.

"And what are those things?" He pointed to the cluster of dots.

"Those are raptors," Lowery said.

Owen turned to him. "Really?"

"Yep."

"Huh," Owen said. He studied the screen. "Looks like they're heading for the Diablos!"

"Does it?" Claire squinted. Yes, she supposed it did. She turned to Owen. "Why would they do that?"

"When one apex predator finds another apex predator in its territory, they'll fight until only one remains." the man said.

Claire's eyes widened. "You think the raptors are hunting the Diablos?"

Owen paused before answering. "Could be," he said.

"For territory?"

"For dominance." Owen turned to her. "You unleashed a nightmare on this island."

Claire bristled at that. "It wasn't entirely my-"

"You failed to clean up the mess, so _they're_ going to do it for you. Speaking of, where's Masrani?"

Claire looked down as grief crashed over her once again; "He... he took the helicopter. He tried to kill it but it knocked them out of the sky..." she shivered as Masrani's scream for help echoed in her mind.

Owen looked saddened. "A shame," he said. "A real shame. And Hoskins?"

"Most likely dead."

"Hamada?"

"Not sure."

"Have _any_ ACU survived?"

Claire looked down again. "We... we don't know."

Owen sighed. "Well then, let's hope the raptors pull this off. 'Cuz if they don't, there's not gonna be anyone left. When's the military getting here?"

"Could be a while," Lowery said, "the costa Ricans will inform our government on what's happened, so they're going to be talking back and forth. Yeah, could be hours before help comes. Good thing we have a boat."

"Let's get on the boat, then," Owen said.

"You can," Claire said, "but we can't. We have to oversee the evacuation."

Owen held her gaze for a moment and then nodded. "Alright. I'm going to the clinic. I think my ribs might be broken." And he hobbled away.


	11. The Pack

The pack crept stealthily through the underbrush. Leader stopped for a moment to flick his tongue in and out, smelling the air. Then they continued, quiet as mice.

None of them, except for One Eye and Blue, had ever gone beyond the Wall before, so they were cautious and careful. And also curious. They wanted to stop to inspect every little sight and smell. Leader had no time for this; whenever he felt one of his packmates were dawdling, he snapped at them. That got them moving nice and fast.

Suddenly, there came the unmistakable bark of a raptor. Leader froze, his body going rigid. He listened. The cry came again, and again. Then, without warning, One Eye broke away from the pack and dashed off. Leader watched, curious and confused. He hissed at One Eye to get back there, but he did not. Leader heard One Eye barking in response. About a minute later One Eye came back with a raptor that Leader had never seen before. He strode forward to investigate. The newcomer remained motionless as Leader smelt her. Indeed, it was a female, and she was older than him. A fowl smell clung to her flesh; the smell of man. Man had been touching her. Leader snorted dissatisfactory. This would not do, no, not at all. Rearing up, he let out the loudest bellow he could manage. The newcomer took a step back, startled, before responding in kind. Leader slashed at her with his curved talons, but she leapt back. One Eye lowered himself to the ground and hissed threateningly at Leader. Leader hissed back and snapped his jaws. One Eye snapped back. The two of them snapped back and forth for about a minute. Then Leader lunged, but One Eye was too quick. He lashed out with those deadly claws and cut Leader across the neck. Leader collapsed and began to thrash. Within moments he lay still, blood pooling out of the wound. The other raptors stared and bobbed their heads quizzically. Leader was dead!

Confused, they began to slink back into the trees, vanishing. The pack was finished. With Leader dead, they had no... well, leader. No organization. So they retreated. Except for One Eye, the newcomer, and another raptor with a blue stripe that ran down the side of her head. Blue. The three remaining raptors cooed and hooted to each other for a few moments, before gathering around Leader's body and tucking in.


End file.
